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Monday, February 23, 2009

Leaving warm and sunny Juneau

I fly out Tuesday afternoon with Pugsley and two big bags of miscellaneous gear in tow. I'm going to spend the next several days in Anchorage and Palmer completing last minute prep, giving Pugsley a makeover, mad-rushing to buy gear I've forgotten and generally just getting my head out of the crush of things I have going on here in Juneau. I'm going to miss it here, though, because the weather has been so clear and seasonable and generally smile-inducing. I have been trying to get out for bike rides but haven't had a lot of time. I thought I was pacing myself well this year, but I'm still going to end up packing late into the night tonight.

Weather in Anchorage for the next week also looks pleasant - highs in the 20s and not a lot of snow on the forecast. Sunday's forecast in the Mat-Su Valley calls for partly sunny and highs in the 20s. Skwentna on Monday has a high of 30 and a low of 11. Puntilla Lake on Tuesday calls for snow showers, a high of 18 and low of 2. Nikolai and McGrath later in the week calls for intermittent snow showers, highs in the teens and lows near 0. All in all, a very encouraging forecast. Of course you can't put a lot of weight on long-range forecasts, but I can keep watching them and crossing my fingers than no -40s or 60-mph winds pop up.

I'm sure I'll post again before the race, which starts at 2 p.m. March 1, so I'll post up my SPOT shared page and race updates links then. I wanted to announce that Scott Morris, organizer of the Arizona Trail Race, mapping expert and all-around ultra-mountain-biking geek, has offered to track my progress on my blog this year. Those of your familiar with his coverage of Mike Curiak's 2008 self-supported tour know how thorough he can be. (Incidentally, Scott will be tracking Mike Curiak's ride again this year as well.) He'll probably stay busy with Mike's page, but I'm guessing Scott will provide at least some commentary about trail conditions, splits and other racer's positions along with really cool Topofusion-generated maps. So be sure to check in on this blog during the race.

Also, I won't be available to send out orders for signed copies of my book for at least two weeks. But you can still support me in this race by purchasing the book for yourself or your crazy outdoor-nut cousin using any one of the other Lulu or Amazon.com links in the sidebar of this blog. The eBook is only $8! Your support, as always, is appreciated.

Also, Ultra Rob is again holding a fundraiser for my race. For every item of cycling and outdoor gear purchased through his site from now through March 1, he will donate 20 percent of the commission to my Iditarod effort. If you have something in mind that you were thinking of getting, now is a good time. Check out the wide selection here.

Wish me luck! It's a total lie when people say just getting to the starting line is the hardest part, but it sure ain't easy.

Reading your blog has helped me get me through the last two winters riding down here in Nebraska. It's been fun to watch you progress over that period. Good luck out there on Round 2 and enjoy yourself.

Good luck Jill! I think the stars and planets are aligned just right for this year. It's going to be a great race. Can't wait to follow your progress and read the various updates until we get the full report.

you don't know me, but I have been following your blog for a while now from my hometown, Phoenix. My husband was a cyclist, and I took on his interest. A good friend of mine in Juneau saw you cycling last week, and I asked her if she had time to say hi from me :-) No, so I'd better do it here.

hey Jill...all the best and enjoy all your peanut butter cups! We'll eat some in your honor when you get to McGrath.(And I can't believe you rode your bike off the Dan Moller ridge! What a rush. Robbi, Bryan and I were marvelling about awesome that must have felt!)Cheers and many wishes for your health and sanity...and hope you have great amounts of fun (even if you are delirious at any point).Cheers! Deb

Well, here it is a year from the last time you were lining up for this race. We are all wishing you the best and we know you will do a great job again this year. Eat and drink, sleep, stay positive and remember we will be watching all the way and checking the SPOT updates. Hopefully, this helps out with all anxieties that we suffered last year. Good luck, stay safe and remember we love you.

I purchased a Pugsley bike today not only because I have wanted one for a long time but also so I can more realistically follow along with your race from my Minnesota shop chair with beer in hand. I am very excited to follow this race now knowing something about it and its racers. I hope you and the others have rideable trail and beautiful weather. Jared

There's some 40 comments here, so I don't know if this one will even be seen, but have you ever thought about selling an audio book!?

In many respects this should be the most profitable endevor of the three (printed book or ebook being the other two) as there's really no cost other then the time to record it and paypal's 3%.

I do think paypal can by default handle digital goods. If not there are many others that can, like cruxy.com.

1) highest percent profit

2) least cost to produce (other then time)

3) Instant gratification. Users can get download it immediately.

4) Far more useful then an ebook.

5) Finally and most importantly...

What could be better then listening to what's in jill's head when she's riding while you're out riding!

I've got to say... I absolutely love listening to audiobooks and audiopocasts while out riding and touring. The best is getting up at 5am, putting on an audiobook and making coffee. It just puts you in the right frame of mind.

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